Anybody Want to Try a Bad Monkey?

[Brent Hutto]

A modest proposal...

I have a Bad Monkey overdrive pedal, a TS-type effect that's frequently recommended as a first thing to try for those of us with little to no experience with drive/distortion effects. I got it along with several others to try out and for my purposes a Barber LTD was the keeper of the bunch.

This particular Monkey is a great shape other than the fact it won't work with an internal 9V battery for some reason. So you have to power it with a standard wall-wart or pedal powersupply. Otherwise, it's a great pedal. It was my second choice of the ones I tried.

I'd like to offer it as a loaner to anyone who is experimenting, learning or just otherwise curious about Tube Screamer pedals. So here's the deal. Give me your address and I will mail the Bad Monkey to you. Don't send me any money, no strings attached save this one condition:

When you're done testing/experimenting/demoing the pedal, post a reply to this thread offering to send it to the next person who requests it. So in the end, all you'll be out is the $5 or so it takes to send it to the next person who in turn gets to test it and pass it on.

How's that?

[nevadacalifornia]

I just sent you a PM, thanks.

[J.Rodney]

Brent-you must be a super nice guy,that is a very kind offer.I'm not intrested,but I'm sure you will have lots of takers.That is what I like most about the Tele forum (super nice people) for the most part.Hope everthing works out well.

[Brent Hutto]

Looks like Marc is going to take the first turn at it.

I'll admit this isn't a totally original idea. Some years ago on some other forum there was a [fill in the blank--can't remember what it was] making the rounds for people to try. I think in that case it was a new product of some type and the manufacturer had provided a demo one for free. Maybe stereo gear or a golf club or something.

But anyway, I think there are a lot of us out there curious about some of the more popular effects. So this will be fun and the 'Monkey is a great pedal to boot.

[NewOldStock]

We do this with carry holsters on the law enforcement/concealed carry boards too. Some spend hundreds/thousands in leather to find the most comfortable. This became a way for everyone to find out what product was best for them.

In one case, the originating topic was, "Holster Library: Borrow One to Try Before Buying...". The thread began in 2003, and has worked very well over the past 5 years. It's currently at 760+ exchanges. I've never been screwed, and have sent out a couple dozen holsters myself. They've always been returned, or else I've received a check for the original price. This usually happens. Can't complain.

[guit30]

Great idea!!!!
J

[ce24]

Pay it forward!!kinda

Cheers
ce24

[mudbean]

Great idea, Brent! Me, I've got my own BMOD - love it.

mud

[Daddydex]

I think the first guy who gets it should have to fix the battery leads.

Dan

[trag-o-caster]

That is very cool of you!

I too am not interested, but I just wanted to take my hat off to ya for the offer.

Over at the Ovation Fan Club messageboard, there were some guys doing the same thing with a particular guitar that was a custom made roundback, Ovation style body, but was made out of wood. That guitar had pretty much circled the globe. I never got it for myself though.

I think it's great when people on the 'net do this kind of stuff!

It's like when I outbid someone here (unknowingly) for yet another Morley JD-10 on ebay, and they emailed me concerning it - I got their mailing address and mailed them an old one that I had with the treble knob sheared off - yet still fully functional. No charge.

Also, I was once outbid on an early Rory Gallagher/Taste 45 from Ireland from some guy in Ireland who mailed me a tape of both sides of that 45, and also a long radio broadcast from the day that Rory died.

There ARE nice folks out there everywhere!

[fivenote]

Very nice offer. I'm interested in taking a turn with it when it's available again.

[Brent Hutto]

fivenote,

Sounds good. I expect when Marc is done with it he'll just revive this thread and get in touch with the next person.

[goldtopper]

Originally Posted by NewOldStock

We do this with carry holsters on the law enforcement/concealed carry boards too. Some spend hundreds/thousands in leather to find the most comfortable. This became a way for everyone to find out what product was best for them.

In one case, the originating topic was, "Holster Library: Borrow One to Try Before Buying...". The thread began in 2003, and has worked very well over the past 5 years. It's currently at 760+ exchanges. I've never been screwed, and have sent out a couple dozen holsters myself. They've always been returned, or else I've received a check for the original price. This usually happens. Can't complain.

We've done it on GlockTalk. Excellent way to not start a holster library of your own!
BTW- a Waldron leather owb is the bomb!

[turkoglu70]

This place is the Mecca of Teledom.... I love this place. Great offer, got my own but will follow sharing mine.

[nevadacalifornia]

Well Thanks to Brent, I can now offer to pass along the Bad Monkey to the next person that wants to demo it. You just need to offer it up again on this thread, and ship it to the next person that wants it. It really is a pretty good pedal IMO. I used it with my Fulldrive2, DRRI, and 52RI Tele and an Am. Strat. I really like it when used as a lead boost combined with the Fulldrive set to a light overdrive. The neck pickup on my tele loved that combination. Definately worth what they sell for.---So whomever would like to try this, send me a PM, and I'll get your mailing info. ---Thanks again , Brent

p.s. Remember that you will need a power supply for the monkey, as the battery connect doesn't work.

[iowa]

pm sent

[nevadacalifornia]

Pedal will be going to Iowa, so watch for him to reoffer.

[Rob DiStefano]

After spending thousands - yes, THOU$AND$ - on way too many boutique OD pedals, the BM is still my go-to fave overdrive, and I've stopped my Don Quixote quest for the mythical perfect overdrive. To each their own, and YMMV.

[Brent Hutto]

For the little bit of use I have for an overdrive I could have easily lived with the Monkey indefinitely. I found a couple of settings with sonds I really, really liked on the Barber LTD that I was trying out at the same time but if I hadn't had the Barber on hand I'd probably be happily using the Bad Monkey.

Conversely, the MXR GT-OD was hard to control and all but the lower end of its distortion range was overkill for my mostly-clean meanderings.

[stringeddemigod]

I have one and bang for the buck it's a great pedal. It doesn't quite have the character of my tubescreamer so I use it as an occasional clean boost turning the gain all the way down. For 40 bucks it's a pretty good pedal if you need a cheap backup.

[Rob DiStefano]

IMHO, the boutique counterpart of the BM is the LTD (at 3X the cost). I've done all the taste test comparisons to death with far too many OD pedals, and for my usage a BM does it all. YMMV, as it could and as it should!

[boneyguy]

Don't send it to me. I'll just keep it. I'm warning you now, I'll just keep it. That's the kind of person I am.

[iowa]

Thanks Brent and nevadacalifornia,

I've had an opportunity to use the Bad Monkey for a little while. I also took it to my Tuesday night jam. Everyone was pretty impressed with the pedal. Even the avowed non-pedal user of the group was grinning as he played with it.

It was my first experience with a dirt pedal. I'm not a high gain guy, soI tended to like it as a semi-clean boost, or about halfway up to add a liitle oomph to solo's. The only downside was that with really hot HB's I struggled to get a low gain tone.

No doubt, this is a great value in an OD pedal. It is now on my short list for the 1st dirt pedal I buy.

PM me and I will send it on to the next person.

p.s. Remember that you will need a power supply for the monkey, as the battery connect doesn't work.

[John Thigpen]

PM Sent.

John

[iowa]

The Bad Monkey will be on it's way to John Thigpen. Enjoy. And let us know what you think. Thanks again to Brent for his generosity.

[andrenighthound]

Originally Posted by Brent Hutto

A modest proposal...

for my purposes a Barber LTD was the keeper of the bunch.

i guess the small fry didn't wok out for you.